Johannes Brahms: Klavierstücke

Johannes Brahms in his late years speaks quietly but with huge depth. In this 2-CD recital, Sir András Schiff brings together the early Albumblatt, discovered in 2012, with the inward-facing piano works opp. 76, 116, 117, 118 and 119.

These are intimate pieces where every phrase matters, more reflection than display, and Schiff really lets their tenderness, clarity and subtle architecture come through. Recorded in Bonn’s Kammermusiksaal Hermann J. Abs on an 1850s Blüthner piano, the sound suits the music’s concentration and warmth beautifully.

The album follows Schiff’s earlier Brahms recordings of the Piano Concertos with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment in 2021 and the Clarinet Sonatas with Jörg Widmann in 2020. The booklet includes a liner essay by Peter Gülke, plus a performer’s note and comments on every piece by Schiff, in English and German.